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PAAB to build 2 water treatment plants in Seberang Perai

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The plants are expected to be completed within five years and will ensure a 15% treated water reserve margin for Penang.

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Free Malaysia Today
(From left) PAAB head of corporate services division Rozaifee Abu Zaharim, CFO Zaleha Abdul Hamid, Penang chief minister Chow Kon Yeow, PAAB chairman Jaseni Maidinsa and CEO Zulkiflee Omar. (Facebook pic)

GEORGE TOWN:
Pengurusan Aset Air Bhd (PAAB) has plans to build two new water treatment plants (WTPs) in Seberang Perai, with a combined value of RM1 billion.

PAAB chairman Jaseni Maidinsa said the WTPs, to be built in Sungai Perai and Sungai Muda, will have a combined capacity of 250 million litres a day (MLD).

He told FMT that the plants are expected to be completed within five years, barring any delays in land acquisition.

“The two projects will be funded and carried out by PAAB. Penang will then pay back (for the cost of the WTPs) over 45 years,” he said.

PAAB, a wholly-owned company by the Minister of Finance Incorporated (MoF Inc), is responsible for developing the nation’s water infrastructure across Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan.

The company typically builds infrastructure such as WTPs, which are then leased back to state water companies at competitive financing rates.

In a statement issued earlier today, PAAB said that once completed, the two WTPs would ensure a 15% treated water reserve margin in Seberang Perai.

This is because as water consumption rises in the future, this reserve margin will shrink unless production capacity is expanded.

To sustain the minimum 15% reserve, the two new WTPS plants with a combined capacity of 250 MLD are being built to meet future needs and ensure a stable water supply.

On a separate matter, Jaseni said water from Sungai Perai, previously considered brackish and unsafe for treatment, is no longer a concern.

He explained that advances in water treatment technology now allow the river water to be treated safely.

In the recent Penang state assembly, it was revealed that six new WTPs, with a combined capacity of 600 MLD, would be built in the coming years.

These plants will primarily focus on end-of-line areas, especially in Seberang Perai Selatan, which gained attention during the Sungai Bakap by-election earlier this year.

Penang currently receives an average supply of 1,198 MLD of treated water, while the state’s average water consumption in 2023 stood at 877 MLD, an assembly reply read.

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